Week 0 is over, and the onslaught of college football is about to begin.
There are 96 games between Thursday and Monday featuring FBS teams. With so many games on the schedule, it's a good idea to keep an eye on specific matchups and place your bets early if the opportunity arises.
I analyzed four games from Week 1 of college football: TCU vs. Stanford, Eastern Michigan vs. UMass, Ohio vs. Syracuse, and Boise State vs. Georgia Southern.
In each matchup, one team has a clear advantage over the other, whether on the front line or in the air, and the betting markets can take advantage of this.
Check out all four of our Week 1 college football predictions and projections below.
TCU vs. Stanford
Friday, August 30
10:30pm ET
ESPN
TCU Odds Spread Total Money Line
-9.5
-110
60.5
-115 degrees / -105 degrees
-360
Stanford Odds Spread Total Money Line
+9.5
-110
60.5
-115 degrees / -105 degrees
+280
TCU 38% pass breakups Stanford 76% receiving yards
Head coach Troy Taylor enters his second year at Stanford as one of the most prolific and experienced coaches in the country.
All counting statistics on defense, including tackles and pressures, return at least 77% of their totals from 2023, while offensive line snaps and passing yards are above 98%.
Quarterback Ashton Daniels returned to an offensive line that used every tool at its disposal to challenge opponents, and Taylor called for as many trick plays in the ground attack as zone-read concepts.
Daniels will once again have his top three targets in slot Tyger Bachmeier, wide receiver Eric Ayomanor and tight end Sam Rausch.
Stanford's rushing attack will take a hit in terms of experience, but it's the passing attack that should have the most success against a refreshed TCU defense.
TCU head coach Sonny Dykes fired Joe Gillespie at the end of 2023 and hired former Boise State head coach Andy Avalos as his replacement.
The move marks a personnel change from a 3-3-5 to a 4-2-5, meaning the Horned Frogs will be expected to have more success against the run attack.
Even before interior guard Damonic Williams committed to Oklahoma through the transfer portal, TCU's defensive line was lacking in experience.
Two starters return to the Horned Frogs' secondary, while the rest of the roster is filled with transfers from Old Dominion, Austin Peay and Tulsa.
Pick: Stanford +8
Eastern Michigan vs. University of Massachusetts
Saturday, August 31
3:30pm ET
ESPN+
Eastern Michigan Odds Spread Total Money Line
+1.5
-108
49.5
-110o / -110u
+100
UMass Odds Spread Total Money Line
-1.5
-112
49.5
-110o / -110u
-120
Eastern Michigan University Pressures 21% Massachusetts University Passing Yards 66%
The first weekend of the 2024 season will see Eastern Michigan University visit Amherst College for a chance at revenge after a season in which they beat UMass by two points.
The Minutemen defense prevented the Eagles' offense from completing a single planned drive, blocking nearly half of their 24 rushing attempts. UMass gained more yards while tripling the number of drives that yielded two or more first downs against Eastern Michigan.
The difference showed up in UMass' four turnovers and the fact that Eastern Michigan gained 185 hidden yards from its net yardage on special teams play.
Head coach Don Brown is in his third season at Massachusetts and has the most offensive experience of his short tenure.
Quarterback Taisan Pongmachanh enters his sixth season after logging more than 250 dropbacks last season and posting a nearly 50-50 ratio of big-time passes to turnover-worthy plays.
The offensive line has some familiar faces as senior Anthony Simpson is exploding with 97 passes returned for 2.5 yards per route run, a combination that could pose a problem for an Eastern Michigan University team that continues to lose talent to the portal.
EMU head coach Chris Clayton will lose his key safety and cornerback players, losses that will likely leave the Eagles with one of the worst secondaries in the MAC.
Quentavious Scandrett and Daiquan White both return, but neither ranked in the top seven among Eastern Michigan University defenders in the 2023 coverage rating.
Pick: UMass ML -135
A must-have app for college football bettors
Best NCAAF Betting Scoreboards
Free picks from proven pros
Live Win Odds of Your Bet
Ohio vs. Syracuse
Saturday, August 31
3:30pm ET
ACC Network
Ohio Odds Spread Total Money Line
+17.5
-110
47.5
-110o / -110u
+625
Syracuse Odds Spread Total Money Line
-17.5
-110
47.5
-110o / -110u
-950
Ohio 24% Pass Protection · Syracuse 95% Receiving Yards
Ohio State's final transfer portal totals were 26 players leaving compared to 21 transferring players. Nearly every player with an impact on the box score has transferred out of Athens, including defensive lineman Rayann Buell to Colorado, quarterback Curtis Luke to Indiana and cornerback Torrey Cox Jr. to Illinois.
Ohio State suffered the largest loss in the TARP update since the spring, specifically returning less than 25% of all passing breakdowns in 2023.
Syracuse's football excitement began with the hiring of new head coach Fran Brown, a former defensive assistant at Georgia and Rutgers. Brown quickly brought in Jeff Nixon, who has worked for various NFL teams, as running backs coach and offensive coordinator.
The Orange are expected to maintain a 60% rushing percentage, but quarterback Kyle McCord, a transfer from Ohio State, has multiple weapons.
Tight end Oronde Gadsden II will look to get back to his 2022 form, when he recorded nearly 1,000 receiving yards and 2.3 yards per route run.
The big win from the transfer portal comes from Colorado State, where Justus Ross-Simmons brings elite speed as a home run hitter to any target from McCord.
Ohio State has 21 players through the portal, with several of those candidates expected to become starters in the secondary.
Senior Mike Mack did not play last year but previously appeared in 20 games for Air Force. Fifth-year senior Roman Parody is expected to transition to the starting cornerback role after being targeted by opponents 112 times since 2020. Safety Adonis Williams Jr. is in his third season with the Bobcats and has recorded two pass breakups in 568 career coverage snaps.
The roster is loaded with upperclassmen, but most of them have never started or played a significant number of snaps.
Pick: Syracuse -17
Boise State vs. Georgia Southern
Saturday, August 31
4pm ET
ESPNU
Boise State Odds Spread Total Moneyline
-12.5
-115
57.5
-105o / -115u
-490
Georgia Southern Odds Spread Total Money Line
+12.5
-105
57.5
-105o / -115u
+365
Boise State pressure 94% Georgia Southern offensive line snaps 42%
The big news coming out of Boise State's fall camp was that Maddox Madsen was selected as the starting quarterback over USC transfer Malachi Nelson.
The Broncos' offense should be the strongest in the Group of Five under offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, but the main driver of betting in Week 1 is defensive dominance.
Head coach Spencer Danielson promoted someone from within the team for the coordinator job, giving Erik Chinander a chance to improve from his 129th-ranked tackle ranking.
The strength of the Broncos' defense comes from their ability to confuse opposing quarterbacks: Boise State ranks in the top 20 nationally in sacks and is currently pressured more than 90 percent of its two-deep defenses.
Edge guard Ahmed Hassanein and linebacker Andrew Simpson return and are coming off an impressive 86 pressures since last season, while defensive tackle Braxton Ferry also returns in the middle of the line after causing 24 quarterback hurries in 2023.
The Havoc were a mainstay late in the conference schedule last season, and that should continue in 2024.
Georgia Southern may not have a strong defense to compete against Boise State in Week 1. The Eagles have just two starters with at least 50 career starts, and with both tackle positions open in fall camp, it's likely reserves or inexperienced newcomers will fill those holes.
Georgia Southern also lost the coach who helped transition the school from triple option to the spread, and Zach Lankford is the new offensive line coach.
The Action Network projects this game to be won by Boise State by 15 points, but a few factors will tip the bets towards the first half.
Temperatures are expected to reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit with extremely high humidity at 70 percent, which could impact the full game for Boise players who are not prepared for the muggy southern heat.
For the Broncos, attention will be focused on future developments as Danielson and his team travel to Eugene on Sept. 7 to face the Oregon Ducks.
Pick: Boise State 1H -8 or better
About the Author
Colin is a Senior Writer for the Action Network, but also wears a variety of hats behind the scenes. Specializing in odds, power ratings and matchup data visualization, Colin's work in the college football space has powered the Action Network's PRO predictions throughout the college football season since the app's launch in 2017. Colin is equally a contributor to the college basketball space, and his passion for predictive analytics has made him a key force in finding betting advantages in niche markets such as professional wrestling and entertainment awards.
Follow Collin Wilson @_Collin1 on Twitter/X.
How do you rate this article?
